Kindergarten. German for ‘children’s garden.’ Friedrich Fröbel’s goal was to create an environment of play and activity, singing and social interaction, all rooted in the belief that children should be taken care of and nourished like plants in a garden. That’s been a successful approach since 1837. Or we can give them worksheets:
Apparently between 1998 and 2010 we killed kindergarten. Lots more testing. Much less music and art. Fewer centers and unstructured play time. Fewer student-driven activities. Greater disregard for young children’s variation in development. More emphasis on teacher-directed instruction and textbooks and worksheets… We knew this but now it’s not just widespread anecdotes. We now have...